


a call to arms

by DaryanCrescend



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Alcohol, Flux Drabble, Mental Health Issues, Multi, Other, Romantic Friendship, Smoking, flux prequel, mentioned onesided KeitoRei, semi-polyam Oddballs, they all kiss
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-29
Updated: 2018-09-13
Packaged: 2019-05-15 19:02:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14796191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DaryanCrescend/pseuds/DaryanCrescend
Summary: Rei himself is nowhere to be seen and Wataru feels anxiety bubbling in his chest before the lump of blankets stirs.The war is over, they lost, but they still have each other.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This one happens pre-flux so it’s not actually necessary to have read it.
> 
> Deals with depression and implies that Rei has been smoking and drinking the pain away while not bothering to take care of himself at all, which I figured I should warn you all about.

Ritsu Sakuma looks truly terrible, ashen faced with bags under his eyes so purple he looks bruised. He’s sat on the steps of the block of flats where he shares a home with his older brother, a look on his face that suggests he would much rather be in bed.

It’s such a pathetic sight, especially after the text that just said ‘Hibiki, it’s Ritsu Sakuma, I need help with Rei’, that Wataru’s heart aches. If Ritsu is in this much of a state it means Rei must be a mess too and he’s been so busy that he hasn’t managed to take time out to check up on him, he feels like the worst best friend in history.

“Good you’re here, do something with him or put him out of his misery, I’m beyond caring enough to help,” Ritsu says as he stands up and pulls a set of keys out of his pocket. “I’m going to Maakun’s house, I’ll be gone all night.”

Shu opens his mouth to say something, he’s only out of his room because worry about Rei has put him on anxiety override, but the way he’s been since The Incident means it’s probably nothing nice. 

“Thank you,” Wataru steps in and takes the keys, “we’ll deal with him, take a break.”

“He looked absolutely terrible and I assume his brother is no better,” Shu comments as soon as Ritsu is too far away to hear him.

“Thank you for joining me,” Wataru tells him. It’s a shame that this is the first time they will have properly seen each other since Wataru was defeated on stage, he should have tried sooner because now he’s here he’s pretty sure he’s the only one of his friends who hasn’t taken a serious hit to the mental health over the whole debacle and yet he’s been invested in trying to smooth the situation over before they get back to school instead of being there for his friends. He’s sure if it feels like a knife to his chest it probably feels like one in the back to all of them. He can’t be sure if Natsume and Kanata both saying they can’t get out of family commitments is the truth or just excuses because they hate him. He wouldn’t really blame them.

The door clicks open and they make their way up the stairs, because Shu point blank refuses to take the elevator, and up to the flat.

There’s no sound as Wataru unlocks the door and steps in, no signs of life when they shut the door or take off their shoes. He takes a moment to look around the hall, there’s a pile of shoes that aren’t on the rack they’re just strewn on the floor and Rei’s absolute favourite jacket is lying in a crumpled pile under the coat hooks. He leans down and picks it up, shaking some of the creases out and placing it back where it should be.

If he thought the entrance was bad the living room is worse, the balcony curtains are pulled shut, there’s rubbish all over the coffee table, the blankets from the couch are in a heap on the floor, cushions strewn around and it doesn’t look like anyone has taken a duster to anything in weeks. If Wataru didn’t know better he’d assume there had been a house party.

Shu is the first to snap out of the shock and move towards Rei’s room, Wataru hot on his heels.

It’s the smell that hits them first, sweat and ash and alcohol and something bittersweet that judging by the positioning of the rubbish bin might be vomit. It’s worse than the living room, worse by far. The floor is a carpet of seemingly everything Rei owns, empty bottles, dirty crockery, and god only knows what else. There’s an untouched glass of water on the night stand, along with Rei’s phone which has at some point had its screen shattered and an overflowing ash tray.

Rei himself is nowhere to be seen and Wataru feels anxiety bubbling in his chest before the lump of blankets stirs.

Wataru zeroes in on the trash can, pulls a hoodie off the floor and covers it, the hoodie can be disinfected later but Shu is sensitive and the last thing he needs is an anxiety attack.

Shu himself has singular focus and kneels straight in the trash, “Rei? Are you awake?”

Wataru moves the curtains aside a fraction and opens the window to let some of the stench out and get some fresh air circulating.

A hand reaches out from under the covers and Shu takes it, gently rubbing his thumb across the back of Rei’s hand. “You can’t live like this,” he says gently.

“I don’t want to live at all,” Rei sounds dreadful, voice quiet, scratchy and strained like he hasn’t spoken in days.

“I’m afraid we care about you too much to allow that,” Wataru says sitting on the edge of the bed and patting the the blanket heap.

Shu lifts the blankets and peers in, “he’s right, so we’re going to get you up and at least fed and clean.”

Rei heaves a sigh and doesn’t seem to be making any effort to move until Shu shoves the covers back more. He looks dreadfully pale and rather gaunt, there’s a t-shirt clutched in his hand like a child with a comfort blanket and Wataru has to launch himself forward and assist him in the task of sitting up because he seems to be struggling to do so himself.

“You reek of alcohol and cigarettes, when did you last shower?” Shu asks, moving to help the effort.

Rei shakes his head, “I don’t know.”

“First order of business is blood sugar, you seem as though you may faint,” Wataru says once Rei is safely leant on Shu, so he gets up and heads to the kitchen.

The kitchen is a tip too but getting to the kettle is achievable and Wataru discovers that there are at least three clean cups and a teaspoon and that the milk is within the sell-by-date meaning that at least one Sakuma has been functional enough to survive.

He returns to the room coffee in hand to discover that whatever floodgates Rei has been desperately holding shut have broken. The sound of his friends sobs are heartbreaking and it physically hurts to hear them but he makes his way to the bed, places the coffee in a free spot on the nightstand and wraps both of the others in an embrace until Rei has cried himself out and wants to drink his now rather lukewarm coffee.

“We love you but you smell atrocious, please come and shower,” Shu says finally and they task themselves with hauling Rei to the bathroom.

Shu busies himself with helping Rei into the shower so Wataru makes his way to the living room and begins to tidy.

By the time the water finally stops running in the bathroom Wataru has cleared the living room of all debris and washed all of the dishes that he can find.

He’s just finished scrubbing the work tops when Shu and Rei emerge in the kitchen. Rei is at least in clean lounge wear and Shu is wearing one of Rei’s hoodies, meaning that his sweater likely got soaked in the attempt at getting their friend clean.

“Where’s Ritsu?” Rei asks hoarsely.

“He told us he’s staying with Isara-kun tonight,” Wataru explains, leaving out how bad Ritsu had looked and that he had declared himself beyond caring, especially because that part was clearly false considering that he had called in help instead of merely walking out.

“I don’t blame him,” Rei sighs sinking into one of the dining chairs and looking around. “You’ve cleaned my kitchen?”

“And the living room,” Wataru informs him as Shu begins rifling through the cupboards.

“I’m not hungry,” Rei protests watching Shu’s progress with no signs of actually getting up to stop him.

“Your stomach said otherwise, several times, while you were in the shower,” Shu retorts retrieving a can of tomato soup.

Rei sighs and lets his head fall into his hands as Shu busies himself with cooking. Wataru makes his way over and pulls a chair in close so he can rub Rei’s back.

“We’re going to make a start on your bedroom next,” Wataru says gently, “and don’t tell us not to, we’re here to take care of you.”

 

It’s fully dark by the time they’re finished, but the bedroom is clean, two loads of laundry are hung on the clothes horse with one in the machine and Rei managed to very slowly eat his entire bowl of soup with encouragement from Wataru and an outright threat from Shu that he’d feed him like a baby if he wouldn’t do it himself.

It’s surprisingly peaceful sitting on the couch with Rei sandwiched between them, the movie they put on is going mostly unwatched and Wataru’s eyes are beginning to get heavy when his phone buzzes.

He checks his messages and finds he has two, both apologies from Natsume and Kanata for not being there, signed with well wishes and love to all three of them. Wataru turns to pass them on and discovers that Shu has fallen asleep and there are quiet tears falling down Rei’s face again.

“Keito Hasumi is an idiot for not recognising what he had,” Wataru says entwining his fingers with Rei’s.

“I love him,” Rei murmurs leaning in to Wataru’s side, “I wish I didn’t, I should have just fallen for you.”

There’s a small part of Wataru that wishes he had, they would have avoided so much pain if they could have. But they didn’t. It doesn’t stop him from pressing a chaste kiss to Rei’s lips. 

Rei responds and he has to pull back, it’s nothing they haven’t done before but it doesn’t feel appropriate to let it go too far when he’s clearly grieving.

“Sorry,” Rei says swallowing hard.

“Don’t be, I adore you.” Wataru assures him, pressing another kiss to the tip of his nose.

“Even after today?” Rei asks.

“There’s nothing you could do to make me love you less,” Wataru replies, giving him a squeeze.

“Same to you,” Rei says back with a yawn.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got too into this to leave it as a oneshot and I didn’t have the patience to not upload a completed chapter, oops.

Rei wakes up to a text message from his brother and knows immediately that whatever it says is going to hurt. He deserves it, he vanished in the middle of the chaos and he has good reason but he should have been there for his baby brother and he wasn’t.

It’s a bit difficult to read through a smashed screen but the text says; ‘I’m staying with Maakun again he thinks I’m sick and he’s worried.’

Ritsu probably is sick, it wouldn’t come as a shock considering the filth they’ve been living in. He’s certainly not mentally healthy, but he has steadfastly refused to talk to Rei about it as some form of punishment for not being there when he was going through whatever has set him off so there isn’t much Rei can do about it. He tries to push aside the intrusive thoughts of how terrible a brother, a friend and a person in general he is because Shu was right, he can’t live like this.

His room is suspiciously empty so he makes his way through to the living room, that’s empty too but there’s a note on the coffee table explaining that Wataru had a prior commitment and will be back in the afternoon, Shu however hasn’t left one so Rei assumes he must still be in the flat and makes his way through to the kitchen.

There’s a half made cup of tea on the sideboard and he finds Shu sat on the floor, hands clenched tightly in his lap. “What’s wrong?” Rei asks padding over and flopping down next to his friend.

“That note,” Shu replies through gritted teeth. “Those are hospital visiting hours and I think we both know who is in the hospital right now.”

Rei sighs and leans his head back against the cupboard, it makes sense, though he doesn’t want to jump to conclusions everything Keito ever said in Tenshouins defence comes flooding back, even thinking about Keito makes his heart constrict painfully.

“Don’t make excuses for him, I know you’re about to and I don’t want to hear them,” Shu growls, clenching and unclenching his hands.

“He has a soft heart, we love him for it,” Rei says gently, reaching out and laying a hand on Shu’s arm.

“Eichi Tenshouin does not deserve his pity!” Shu protests grabbing Rei’s hand with one of his own and squeezing it.

“What’s going on?” Rei asks, despite the vice grip he can feel that Shu is shaking.

Shu looks away, at anything but him and confesses; “I’m... Having an anxiety attack.”

Rei has dealt with those before, though everyone is different and what works for Ritsu might not work for Shu, but it’s worth a shot, “I take it you’ve done all the Doctor recommended things such as deep breaths and trying to relax your body?”

Shu laughs bitterly, “and trying to focus on a task instead of my spiralling thoughts.” He gestures at the half made tea.

“Do you want me to finish making that for you?” Rei asks.

Shu nods.

The kettle rumbles away and it’s nice to focus on the sound of that and Shu taking deep breaths, it’s good to focus on things that aren’t how badly his life has spun out of control, though Rei wishes it could be under kinder circumstances. He finishes making the tea and makes himself a black coffee, his state must have really thrown Wataru the previous day to forget that Rei takes coffee black and he feels a twinge of guilt for that.

“What would you like to do when we finish these?” Rei asks handing Shu his cup of tea and sitting to drink his coffee.

“Will it be thoroughly terrible for your mental state to suggest going back to bed?” Shu asks, sipping his tea. He sounds a little calmer.

Rei laughs into his coffee, “I have nothing better to do, Wataru has cleaned my entire house besides, I assume, Ritsu’s bedroom, which I’m not allowed in to.”

 

So once they’re finished they head back to Rei’s room and curl back in to his bed, Rei had truly forgotten how good it feels to get into clean sheets and even if everything else feels dreadful it’s reassuring that he has been blessed with wonderful friends who are willing to wade into the middle of his most terrible messes and drag him out, even going so far as doing his housework.

“Are you sniffing your sheets?” Shu asks raising an eyebrow, but Rei can see the smile he’s trying to hold back.

“And my own hair,” Rei adds, because it smells like mint shampoo instead of three week old smoke.

“You’re welcome, you’re very lucky I was patient enough to untangle it instead of cutting the knots out,” Shu never sounds like he’s teasing but Rei knows him well enough to know when he is.

“I’m very lucky I have you. Period.” Rei replies reaching up and stroking Shu’s cheek.

There’s a tense moment where Rei knows what’s about to happen and that he should stop it as Wataru had but he doesn’t particularly want to. The kiss robs him of breath and while it feels wonderful in the moment he knows he’s playing with fire.

“We probably shouldn’t do this when I’m on the rebound, and I know that it was just a decade long crush and it wasn’t getting anywhere but-“ Rei starts to explain but Shu places a finger on his lips to shush him.

“Do you truly believe I’m not?” Shu asks looking skeptical. “I was also unceremoniously dumped, and while you have the excuse that it absolutely wasn’t your fault I do not, the blame is all mine, I behaved terribly, I don’t intend to fall for you and I certainly will not allow you to fall for me, I just want...”

“Someone you love and trust to pet your hair, kiss you a bit and make you feel like you’re not the worst combination of atoms on the planet?” Rei asks.

“Something like that, yes.” Shu replies.

“I can do that,” Rei murmurs leaning back in.

 

Wataru doesn’t return until several hours later and by that time they’ve both showered and are in the kitchen making dinner.

“Did you have a nice time?” Shu asks with just a hint of aggravation.

“No,” Wataru admits slumping down into one of the dining chairs, “it was a heavy conversation that I don’t feel like repeating.”

Rei puts his spoon down and wanders over to rub his shoulders, “you’re trying to do something that seems like a necessary evil.”

“I don’t see how playing nice with Tenshouin is necessary,” Shu snipes stirring the pot aggressively enough that he gets splattered with spaghetti sauce.

“I don’t want the next year to be as dreadful as this one was,” Wataru explains rubbing his face.

Shu makes a noise of disgust but any further argument is cut short by the sound of the doorbell.

It isn’t Ritsu, he stands and presses it continuously, this is repeated tapping, which is every bit as obnoxious as Ritsu’s habit so Rei goes to buzz the guest up so it stops and hopes that the others don’t get into an actual fight while he’s preoccupied.

Several minutes and there’s a few sharp raps on the door and Rei has barely gotten it open before Natsume bodily slams himself into Rei’s arms with a cry of “I was so WORRIED!”

“I’m surviving, little one, I didn’t mean to scare you,” Rei assures him, holding him tight.

“‘m not LITTLE,” Natsume protests, balling his hands in Rei’s shirt. “And Wataru-niisan said that your brother contacted him which means it was definitely BAD.”

So that’s why they’re here, Ritsu resorted to calling backup, which means he does care despite the previous mornings argument where he declared he didn’t and that Rei could just let himself rot. “I’ve been worse, but you’re here now and that makes me feel much better.”

“None if you except Shu-niisan were telling me anything and I was worried anyway and then I finally hear something from anyone and it’s that you were having a breakdown, so I came here as soon as we got back from my parents TRIP,” Natsume mumbles showing no signs of letting go.

There’s no yelling from the kitchen, Rei figures it’s safe enough to stand in the hall with Natsume wrapped in his arms for a little while, so he does, stroking his hair and whispering reassurances.

“I bought an overnight BAG,” Natsume admits finally pulling away, “I didn’t want to get here and then need IT.”

“Then I think we should pull the couch out and have a pyjama evening,” Rei says with a genuine smile, “I’m already in mine.”

“Did you even get out of them TODAY?” Natsume asks scrubbing his face with his sleeve and smearing his eyeliner in the process.

“Does taking off the dirty ones and putting clean ones on count?” The ones Rei had been wearing are already washed and hung out to dry because they were sticky.

“NO,” Natsume replies flashing him a grin.

“Go change, I’m going to check they’re not ruining dinner,” Rei says giving Natsume a small nudge.

Wataru and Shu are mercifully not shouting at each other still, in fact Rei ends up hovering in the kitchen doorway because they’re locked in a hug, foreheads and noses pressed together and he doesn’t have the heart to disturb them until they spot him and Shu clears his throat and pulls away.

He’s accosted by even more affection when Natsume emerges in the kitchen and immediately attaches himself but despite the roll of his eyes Rei knows Shu isn’t really opposed to it. “Did you sort out the problem from last weekend?”

“Ugh, no, talking to him made it WORSE,” Natsume groans hiding his face in Shu’s chest. “I don’t want to talk about it, nobody else is allowed to ask me anything about IT.”

Wataru sends Shu an offended look and Shu merely smiles back at him.

“I think we should serve dinner,” Rei says before they can start bickering.

It’s nice, the four of them eating dinner with the couch pulled out into a bed and a movie on in the background. Rei almost forgets why he felt so sad in the first place. Especially when Kanata calls and promises to come over as soon as he can and insists on saying hello to everyone.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Work is murdering me and unfortunately with this I’m not running on a schedule and I don’t have three chapters advance written like I did with flux but I hope it was worth the wait.
> 
> And I’m super sorry if you got two notifications it’s not a double update Ao3 just screwed up and posted it twice!!

Falling asleep sandwiched between two of his favourite people means that Natsume wakes up having slept better than he has in months. It comes with its own set of difficulties though, first and foremost is that it’s boiling hot which means he’s sticky and the pleasant scent of his friends is now masked by sweat, secondly the sweat has stuck any exposed skin together and he’s too encased in cuddle to escape.

The next thing that he discovers when he tries to wriggle free even a little is that there is more than one embarrassing teenage male situation going on. He’s going to have to wake them both up and it’s going to be awkward. Especially because his thigh is glued to Rei’s and it is right on his leg.

Natsume clears his throat and wriggles a bit, careful to only jostle them above the waist, “you both need to wake up I’m STUCK.”

Rei is the first to begin shifting but Wataru just tightens his grip. 

“Sorry,” Rei mumbles letting go a little and then his eyes snap open.

“You’re both uh... poking ME,” Natsume explains.

“No I’m not,” Wataru groans and then freezes.

“Yeah, you ARE,” Natsume replies with a snigger. There’s a couple of minutes of stunned silence so he adds, “I’m taking it as a COMPLIMENT.”

“I am so sorry,” Rei’s face has gone bright crimson to match his eyes.

“My apologies,” Wataru adds, wriggling back as far as he can without shoving Shu off the bed.

“It’s fine, it’s fine,” Natsume assures them extracting himself from the bed, “as hot as the idea of you two sandwiching me is though I have to PISS.”

He makes it all way to the bathroom, leaving them both spluttering, while managing to hold on to a fragile sense of control but as soon as the door is shut he sinks down against it and sucks in a shaky breath. It is a hot idea, a very hot idea, and apparently his hormones agree because all the blood in his body seems to be being redirected between his legs.

Natsume leans his head back against the door and tries to count out his breaths instead of thinking about it. He wonders if they’re still being awkward or trying as hard as he is to calm down but his brain sticks on the idea that they could have quite easily gone to Rei’s room to sort it out in a far more fun way. He suppresses a whine and tries to count the wall tiles as if that’ll stop it.

His hormones have already gotten him into a mess once that month and he could do without creating another one because they won’t stop raging.

He’s contemplating getting up and taking a cold shower when there’s a knock on the door. He doesn’t really want to face anyone but he hauls himself up and opens it anyway.

“Are you alright?” Shu asks stepping in and closing the door.

“I’m fine, why wouldn’t I be FINE?” Natsume replies but his voice comes out higher pitched than he’d like.

“They explained what happened and you’ve been in here a while, they were worried it had freaked you out,” Shu explains sitting on the closed toilet lid.

“That’s because they think I’m a precious virginal CHILD,” Natsume grouches, perching himself on the edge of the bath.

“I’m sure that is not the case,” Shu sighs.

Shu knows that he’s not, because he had to tell somebody and Kanata had been oddly quiet lately so Natsume didn’t want to bother him with his silly mistakes. “I was just... Why do hormones have to do this? It’s awful, how do I make them stop? You’re always so in CONTROL!”

“They happen to the best of us and I wasn’t yesterday,” Shu admits with a chuckle.

“Yesterday?” Natsume asks, apparently Shu had been with Rei all day so... “Am I really the only one he hasn’t..? What’s wrong with me?”

“Absolutely nothing, don’t be ridiculous,” Shu replies holding his arms out until Natsume relents and allows himself to be pulled into Shu’s lap. “I can assure you with absolute certainty that the conclusion you just jumped to is entirely false and if I had to guess I’d say it’s because he sees you as something he needs to protect, including from himself.”

“Why?” Natsume asks burying his face in Shu’s shoulder.

“Because he has an all too low opinion of himself, compounded by how badly he’s been treated recently,” Shu says stroking his hair. “He panicked that he was going to hurt me if something happened between us while he’s on the rebound yesterday, as if I’m not.”

“Then he’s stupid, I don’t care anyway, it’s just sex,” Natsume replies.

“I’d believe you but your track record of sleeping with people without having a meltdown afterwards is only fifty-fifty and taken from a sample of two,” Shu chastises giving him a squeeze.

“Not FAIR,” Natsume retorts looking up to glare at Shu, “one of those situations was great and the other one is really complicated but I’m sure if it was with any of you it would be FINE!”

“It likely would be, but maybe not when you’re still having complicated emotions about the last time,” Shu says shooting him a look.

“My complicated emotions can fuck off, I don’t want them and I’m electing to ignore that they EXIST,” Natsume protests, though he knows that Shu is all too correct.

“Language,” Shu says prodding him in the ribs, “and while I don’t necessarily agree with that course of action I do understand.”

“I hate HIM,” Natsume mutters, because he truly wishes that he did.

“As I said, I still feel particularly scorned as he was supposed to be my friend,” Shu seems to be picking his words carefully, “but I think you should address it even so, I don’t want to see you hurt.”

“Hearts are fickle and love is a TRAP?” Natsume replies with a small smirk.

Shu sighs deeply and squeezes him, “I wouldn’t recommend listening to the things Rei and I say when we’re bitter and sulking.”

 

Shu and Natsume are greeted by the smell of coffee and toast when they leave the bathroom, Natsume feels a little sheepish about doing a runner but his guilt is assuaged a little by the fact that Wataru goes red as soon as he walks in and Rei avoids looking at him.

“We’re both sorry,” Rei says hunting in the fridge.

“What did you do to the FRIDGE?” Natsume asks amusement colouring the words.

“I mean the... situation.” Rei sighs but he sounds like he’s suppressing a laugh.

“It HAPPENS,” Natsume shrugs and drops himself into a chair.

“We’re also sorry that breakfast is just toast, nobody has been to get groceries,” Wataru says getting up and pushing the plunger down on the French Press.

“Are you sure you’re alright?” Rei asks once they’re all sat down to breakfast.

“Why wouldn’t I BE?” Natsume replies through a mouthful of toast.

“Don’t talk with your mouth full,” Shu shudders.

“The same reason everybody else isn’t entirely alright,” Wataru supplies.

Natsume can see why they’re worried, Rei’s depression, Shu’s anxiety, Kanata withdrawing back away from them and his own reluctance to talk about the serious stuff with anyone but Shu must be weighing on him. Even if he is a traitor who left them to deal with the final aftermath so he could run off to the hospital with the person who caused all the problems in the first place.

“You used to talk to us all about your problems,” Rei whines and there’s a hint of the man he knows and loves in it.

He did. “I slept with Tsumugi.” 

Rei chokes on his coffee and it’s a miracle he doesn’t literally do a spit take.

“I know, stupid right, but I had to talk to him after everything collapsed because he knew me when I was still forced to be that PERSON,” Natsume waves a hand and takes another sip of coffee, “the whole time everything was happening I was so scared he was going to use that against me, just like they used Hasumi and they destroyed those Knights second YEARS.”

“What actually happened there, does anybody know?” Shu asks as if it isn’t obvious he’s digging because he and Tsukinaga Leo have history. Natsume is thankful that he’s causing a distraction.

“Some gay or not gay or maybe gay drama as far as I’ve heard, Ha-“ Rei stops and flounders on the nickname before settling on just the last name, “Hasumi said something about it, though I can’t be sure he was telling the whole truth.”

“Not just gossip, Tsukinaga had romantic feelings for the other one but the other one was really determined to deny them and they used that to tear him down, as far as I was TOLD,” Natsume replies not entirely willing to admit that it sounds like Hasumi told the truth.

“Enough of that,” Wataru says getting up and putting his plate in the sink like he wants to get away from the topic of Rei’s failed romance as much as Natsume does. “Would anyone like to come and get groceries? If we’re inflicting our continued presence on our dear friend we should at least feed ourselves.”

“You came here to help,” Rei laughs following him over and hip bumping him away from the sink, “let me.”

 

“Do you think if we bait Kanata with sashimi he’ll stop making excuses and come OVER?” Natsume asks from his place in the shopping cart.

“We could try,” Rei laughs handing Natsume a melonpan and a croissant selection pack to arrange around himself.

Wataru and Shu have gone off to find cereal and a bag of rice because after inspecting the kitchen cupboards it had turned out that the Sakumas were almost entirely out of basics and essentials.

Natsume whips out his phone and fires off a text even though Kanata is prone to ignoring them for- his phone buzzes back immediately; ‘I could be persuaded’

“He says he could be persuaded, I guess that means I’ve got to take PICTURES,” Natsume says, “he got back to me awfully FAST.”

Rei hums and begins to push the cart towards the fish counter.

“Do you know someTHING?” Natsume asks leaning all the way back to fix him with a glare.

“Not for sure but I have an inkling,” Rei replies enigmatically, “but you mustn’t tell him I know anything about anything.”

“I’ll tell him you know absolutely nothing, that your head is full of rot and dust and cobwebs and nothing else at ALL,” Natsume grouses and then squeaks when something Rei has just fished out of the freezer drops into his lap. He huffs audibly and studies the bag, “Do you need gyoza or did you drop them on me to be AWFUL?”

“It was revenge, but we’re buying them now,” Rei laughs.

Natsume’s heart swells several sizes even as he finds somewhere to put the frozen item that isn’t directly in his lap.


End file.
